A judge has dismissed an Arizona sheriff's office from a lawsuit alleging the agency carried out a pattern of discrimination against Latinos in its immigration patrols, but rejected a request to dismiss Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio himself from the case.

Attorneys defending the state’s redistricting commission against allegations of open meeting law violations are touting an appellate court decision today as a victory. So is the county prosecutor who pursued the allegations.

A Maricopa County analysis found that provisional ballots cast in the general election had more do with the number of people on a precinct’s permanent early voting list than any other factor, officials say.

A surge in the number of dependency cases is overwhelming juvenile courts around the state, straining the foster-care system and prompting agencies in the child-welfare system to ask for millions more dollars for the next fiscal year.

Before leading the way for other states to pursue immigration laws, Arizona passed a ban on human smuggling in 2005 that has led to more than 2,100 arrests and drawn criticism for a tactic in which people who pay to be sneaked into the country are charged as conspirators to the crime.

In the wake of Arizona’s 2012 general election, which was marred by large numbers of uncounted ballots holding up the decision in one congressional district race for 11 days, Secretary of State Ken Bennett said the election system isn’t broken. But he still wants to fix it.